


Ogs Sneezewort, Wizard to Be

by DragonWolfe



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), World of Lendor
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24778066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonWolfe/pseuds/DragonWolfe
Summary: These are short snippets from the early life of Ogs Sneezewort, someday to be The Great Theophanius XXXII, Wizard at Large. The World of Lendor was created bythevalleyarchive, our fabulous and benevolent DM.
Kudos: 1





	1. Pirate Names

“I'm going to be a pirate some day!”

Oltea announced this with a sweeping hand, encompassing the entirety of her kingdom. It consisted of two crooked platforms strung between the broad branches, a pail of swamp snails, and Ogs.

“Yeah?” He rolled on his side, leg falling off his branch to dangle down.

“Yeah. I'll have a big ship. Bigger than any raft you've ever seen! And I'll have a lot of swords and crew. I'll be terrifying!!”

He grinned up at her. “You already are.” She stuck her tongue out. “What's your pirate name gonna be?”

“Pirate name?” she asked.

“Yeah, every good pirate has a pirate name. It's in all the stories!”

She scrunched up her nose, thinking hard. “Toe Rot.”

“Toe Rot? That’s not a pirate name.” As if speaking its name could summon it, Ogs began to idly pick at his toes.

“Is too! Toe rot’s gross and scary.” Oltea’s fists pushed hard against her hips, preparing to argue. “Gross and scary is how you make a proper pirate name!”

“Huh.” Ogs dropped his toes. “Ok.”

Oltea lowered her hands slowly, mildly disappointed to leave it at that. She dropped down next to Ogs, pushing her toes into his thigh. “What about yours?”

“What about my what?” His focus had switched to a hairy caterpillar making its way along the branch and past his nose.

“Your pirate name!”

“Why do _I_ need one?” He reluctantly flipped his head back towards Oltea.

“Cause you're gonna be my first mate! First mates need pirate names too!”

“Can't I just be Ogs? I like being Ogs. Having two names would get confusing. You might mix up which name you told who,” he mused. “That’d be embarrassing.”

“You'll still be Ogs! But you need a fancy title. Like Ocean Pox. Or Sea Mumps.”

He nodded, considering. “I like Sea Mumps.”

Oltea scrambled upright. “First mate Sea Mumps.” She nodded her head imperiously.

“Captain Toe Rot.” He leapt to his feet, sweeping into a ridiculous bow and nearly toppling off the branch.

She started giggling, trying to hold a serious face. “Onward!” She gestured to the treetops. “Treasure awaits!” She leapt to the next branch, Ogs in hot pursuit, as they raced through the canopy.

\---  
Hours later, their energy expended in their mad dash for treasure, the two collapsed in a heap in their fort, legs tangled together. Ogs dipped his hand in their pail without looking, pulling out two snails. He popped one in his mouth and began to crunch. He held the other above Oltea’s face. She reached for his other hand instead.

“You _will_ come with me, right?”

“Huh?” Ogs dropped the snail back in the bucket.

“When I go on grand adventures. You'll come too?”

“Of course! I go where you go.” He squeezed her fingers.

“Ok. I'll make sure to come on your adventures too.”

He was silent for a bit. “I probably won’t have any. You're the one that has adventures. And I watch your back!” He turned his head to smile at her.

She hummed slightly. “Ok.” She kicked his leg. “They can be OUR adventures.”

He smiled. “Yeah. Our adventures.”


	2. Chapter 2

This must be what the other Theophaniuses had felt. He'd never understood before, why so many of them kept going. Every single one had lost control and died gruesomely, and yet they still picked up the book. Because they felt the magic. It was like a sense that he'd never known how to use before, flavors that weren't on his tongue. He knew if he reached out just a little, gave the right instructions, promised the right things, it would leap to his bidding. It wasn't alive like he was, nothing so big and so amorphous could exist in such a defined manner. It was just everywhere. It tasted like the pressure behind a dam, overwhelming and immense.

~

She dragged him to the side, her hand wrapped tight around his elbow. "What do you mean, you're leaving?" she hissed. "Leaving Mudpot?"   
"Yeah," he hesitated. "Probably the Yuan too."   
"That's not funny!" Her nails dug deeper into his arm. Ogs let out a small grunt, and she looked at her grip, surprise on her face. Her finders uncurled.   
"It's not a joke. They - they don't want us around anymore. The Theophaniuses. They don't want ME around." His nobbly fingers wrapped around each other, the knuckles knocking painfully. "I have to go." Ogs looked her in the eyes, begging for understanding. "They want it gone."  
"Then don't keep the book!" Oltea threw her arms out violently. "Just, I don't know, Burn it."  
His fingers flinched reflexively towards where the book was hidden in his robes. "No, I can't!"  
"Why not?!" Her fingers curled to fists. "What's so special about it anyways? It'll just get you in trouble."  
"It's...you don't get it. It's not the book. It's unbelievable, unlike anything else." He could feel it even now, thrumming just under his skin. It must have always been there, but now he could FEEL it. He couldn't touch it at will, he didn't know enough - it required rules, guidance, all those carefully scrawled lines on pages. But it was there. It was real. More real than anything he'd felt before.  
"It's -" he reached out his hand for hers. He wanted to share it, the thrill and the wonder. "Here, let me show you."  
"No!" She snatched her hand away. For the first time in their lives, Theo saw fear in her eyes. She feared him.  
Oltea cast her eyes down and away, appearing ashamed of her reaction. Her voice dropped to a whisper.  
"I saw what happened to Molk." Her hands fell to her lap, and her voice cracked. "I can't - I can't watch you go up in flames, or explode, or any of the horrible ways it's happened. I can't do that." Her throat gulped. "And if I can't stop you, then I refuse to watch."  
Ogs felt something damp on his cheeks. He patted at them, his fingers coming away damp and salty. He stared, realizing he must be crying. He could hear Oltea sniffling, her head bowed.   
He'd never felt this before. Like he was breaking apart inside, but the pain was distant, dulled. Or maybe he was distant. He couldn't quite tell where his arms were. All he wanted to do was reach out, pull Oltea close and never let go. He knew if he could just hold on tight enough, he could squish all the broken pieces back together again. But he couldn't feel his body.   
He could feel the magic though. Could taste it on his tongue.   
It tasted an awful lot like tears.


End file.
